Sacramento tells teams not to gather on Land Park’s fields, but players still show up

It all started with complaints.

More than a dozen complaints, according to Sacramento city manager’s spokesman Carlos Eliason, poured in regarding large gatherings at William Land Park.

Sports teams congregated en masse at the park’s baseball fields for a little quarantine-style fun in the great outdoors. The only problem? Both California and Sacramento County health officials have strict limits on large gatherings in public spaces in order to curb the spread of coronavirus.

So Sacramento city leadership posted warnings on signs posted in the fields.

“In response to those complaints, the city has installed semi-permanent signage, in addition to movable signage that has been present for about six weeks, to assist park rangers with educating people about state and county public-health orders,” Eliason said. “Similar signage can be seen at other city parks.”

Per the county’s recent coronavirus response measures, public parks in Sacramento can be used for exercise or other individual activities, but 6 feet of space must be maintained between people to ensure social distancing, and groups can’t gather.

Now, tall metal signs planted in the middle of the baseball fields inform visitors that sports teams face restricted access at William Land Park.

But that didn’t stop Jonathan Torrente, a local travel ball coach, from bringing his team out to the fields Friday.

“I think it’s kind of silly,” Torrente said. “There’s really no way that they can stop kids from playing.”

Nearby, another group of kids were playing soccer in a field, unimpeded by signage or park enforcement.

“I think it’s singling out a specific sport. If the fields were closed and it was locked up it would be a totally different story,” Torrente said. “Those little kids are running around and people are walking their dogs — why can’t kids go out here and play catch?”

Although sports teams aren’t competing right now, as the pandemic has effectively wiped out this year’s opportunity for organized games, Torrente said he at least wants to keep his team in shape and be able to practice so that after a vaccine is found, his players can still perform well.

“We’re trying to practice social distancing, we’re keeping their groups low,” he said. “I don’t understand why they would have to put a sign in the middle of the pitcher’s mound.”

By Saturday evening, three of the five signs had disappeared.

This story was originally published July 19, 2020 at 12:23 PM.